Suez Canal sees return of 264 ships rerouted from Cape of Good Hope since February
Updated 4/16/2025 2:51:00 PM
Arab Finance: A total of 264 ships have diverted from the Cape of Good Hope to the Suez Canal since February 1st, according to an announcement by Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) Osama Rabie.
This came as the SCA intensifies efforts to strengthen ties with global shipping lines and maritime institutions during ongoing regional challenges.
Rabie highlighted the authority’s focus on maintaining close coordination with its clients, adding that signs of recovery began to appear in March 2025.
Compared to January, the number of transiting ships rose by 2.4%, net tonnage increased by 7.1%, and revenues grew by 8.8%.
Despite this slight rebound, the Chairman acknowledged the broader impact of the Red Sea crisis on the Canal's overall performance in 2024.
Net ship tonnage fell by 66.5% to 525 million tons, down from a record 1.568 billion tons in 2023.
In previous years, net tonnage stood at 1.207 billion in 2019, declined to 1.169 billion in 2020 due to the pandemic, and then steadily rose to 1.275 billion in 2021 and 1.410 billion in 2022.
Ship traffic followed a similar trend. The canal saw 18,880 ships in 2019 and 18,830 in 2020, before rising to 20,694 in 2021 and 23,851 in 2022.
In 2023, it reached a record 26,434 ships, before declining by 50% in 2024 due to regional instability.
In terms of revenues, the Suez Canal generated $5.804 billion in 2019, slightly dropped to $5.606 billion in 2020, then rose to $6.334 billion in 2021 and $7.934 billion in 2022.
It hit an all-time high of $10.250 billion in 2023, before falling by 61% to $3.991 billion in 2024 amid the crisis.
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